Richard Adler

Richard Adler, who co-wrote the musicals The Pajama Game and Damn Yankees with his partner, Jerry Ross, died Thursday at his home in Southampton, N.Y. He was 90. Fresh Air remembers the composer and lyricist with excerpts from a 1990 interview.

This interview was originally broadcast on Aug. 9, 1990.

In the '50s, Richard Adler collaborated with his partner, Jerry Ross, on the Broadway musicals Damn Yankees and The Pajama Game. Currently, there is a new Broadway staging of The Pajama Game, starring Harry Connick Jr., and Michael McKean. This interview originally aired on August 9, 1990.

Composer and lyricist Richard Adler. In the 1950s, he collaborated with his partner, Jerry Ross, on the Broadway musicals Damn Yankees and The Pajama Game. He later became an impresario and organizer of events. His wrote a memoir, You Gotta Have Heart. The Pajama Game is currently being revived by City Center Encores in Manhattan.